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Current Projects

Waterway Protection Tunnel

Bells Lane Wet Weather Treatment Facility Modification Project

MSD is planning a project to help reduce odors at our Bells Lane Wet Weather Treatment Facility. The project will include a new concrete liner in the equalization basin. The new liner will allow a wash-down or cleaning after each use of the basin. Click here for more information.

Camp Taylor Sewer Replacement Project

A large portion of the Camp Taylor neighborhood sanitary sewers date back to the early 1900s, when sewer lines were built to serve the Camp Taylor U.S. Army training facilities. Residential development took over the area after these training facilities were closed. The greater part of this development was undertaken without consistent planning or today’s sewer design guidelines. The results—lines that are too small, lines that run below structures and single property service connections with more than one hookup—which cause capacity related sewer overflows during rain events.

Learn how the Camp Taylor Projects may impact traffic in your neighborhood here.

Completion of the Camp Taylor project will:

Decrease the probability for sanitary sewer overflows and backups into homes during rain events

Update the sewer system to current standards through replacement or rehabilitation

Disconnect sump pumps, downspouts, yard drains and catch basins that are discharging groundwater/stormwater into the sanitary sewer system

The Camp Taylor suite of projects were substantially completed on December 15, 2017. Final residential sewer connections, restoration work and paving will continue through Spring 2018.

Derek R. Guthrie WQTC Regional Facility Plan

MSD has completed an update to its Derek R. Guthrie Regional Water Quality Treatment Center Facilities Plan. The plan details the recommended procedure for wastewater management within the Derek R. Guthrie Planning Area, encompassing Southwest Jefferson County. The recommended plan, which calls for wastewater to be collected and treated at the MSD Derek R. Guthrie WQTC, represents the alternative with the lowest present-worth cost, a minimal environmental impact and the highest capability for implementation.

A public hearing on the plan is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, February 20, at Southwest Regional Library, 9725 Dixie Highway. A copy of the plan is available here. The plan will be available for review and comment until March 28. Comments can be mailed to:

Maple Street Land Use Planning Project

On August 4, 2009, West Louisville experienced widespread flash flooding, the worst of which was in the Maple Street area. To improve public health and safety, MSD pursued and was awarded a FEMA grant to assist residents and provide opportunities for those in the highest risk areas to relocate.

An advisory committee has been formed to identify possible uses for the acquired flood-prone properties and to define ownership and long-term maintenance options for the accepted use. Learn more about the Maple Street Land Use Planning Project here.

Storage Basins and Tunnel

Underground storage basins and the tunnel are part of MSD's larger endeavor to prevent sewage overflows into our waterways. The basins and tunnel are designed to capture rainwater and sewage, which otherwise can overwhelm the sewer system during rain events and flow untreated into local streams and the Ohio River. These underground storage areas retain the mixture of rainwater and sewage until the rain subsides and capacity is available, and then gradually release it back into the sewer system. At that point, the water is conveyed to a water quality treatment center, treated and returned to our local streams or the Ohio River.

By 2020, MSD will capture and treat 98 percent of the combined sewer overflow volume in a typical year of rain. Instead of the 2 billion to nearly 6 billion gallons in combined sewer overflows per year that MSD has reported in recent years, the number would drop to 343 million gallons during a typical year.

The Clifton Heights Basin will be mostly underground and covered. A small building above it will include pumps and equipment for operation. This basin will offer Beargrass Creek protection from combined sewer overflows.

The extension of the tunnel will replace the planned storage basin project at the site of the former Jim Porter’s Goodtime Emporium near Lexington and Grinstead. Additionally, when the underground tunnel project is complete, the above-ground site will gain a new public green space to serve as a trailhead for the Beargrass Creek Trail, complete with parking, paths, trails, a rain garden and a wetland preservation area. MSD will sell the original Jim Porter’s when construction and site restoration is complete.

Operational since December 20, 2017, the Logan Street Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Basin at 935 Logan Street now captures 11 combined sewer overflow points that used to discharge 15,400,000 gallons of a mixture of sewage and rainwater in a typical rainfall year into the South Fork of Beargrass Creek. The basin allows capture of 98 percent of these overflows for a typical year of rainfall, resulting in a safer, cleaner area and South Fork Beargrass Creek.

The basin is a concrete underground structure with a storage capacity of 16.7 million gallons. It has an above ground operations building and an access ramp to allow service vehicles to enter for periodic maintenance. There are 10,000 feet of 24- to 96-inch sewer pipes that collect flow from 11 overflow points and convey it to the basin. The sewer water is stored in the basin until capacity is available in the sewer system. At that time, the water is conveyed to Morris Forman Water Quality Treatment Center, treated and released into the Ohio River.

MSD transferred the site to the Louisville Metro Housing Authority to better accommodate public use and maintenance of the site. The Housing Authority is partnering with the local community to develop and implement a plan for public use of the property. MSD retains an easement to allow maintenance of the basin.

The Waterway Protection Tunnel will take the place of three proposed basin projects—Lexington and Payne; Story and Main; and, Thirteenth and Rowan streets. The construction of this deep-rock tunnel will be less disruptive—than the construction of the three basins and their conveyance lines—for the downtown business district, Butchertown business district and for traffic in the affected neighborhoods during the two-year construction period. Additionally, the Waterway Protection Tunnel offers the same storage capacity of the three proposed basins for about the same cost.

The Portland Green Infrastructure Project will prevent more than 35 million gallons of rainwater from entering the combined sewer system in a typical rainfall year, and provide sewer overflow protection for the Ohio River. All green infrastructure elements will be in the right-of-way. MSD will be responsible for maintenance of these features.

Green infrastructure focuses on the preservation and restoration of natural landscape elements—rainwater storage and infiltration—by implementing green practices that mimic predevelopment conditions. Capturing stormwater on-site has proven to be a cost-effective solution for reducing rain flow to the sewer, thus decreasing sewer overflows.

The Shawnee Park Basin (Southwestern Parkway Storage Basin) — a covered underground facility — is under construction in Shawnee Park, near the Southwestern Parkway entrance. This 20-million-gallon structure will be empty most of the time. When it rains, untreated wastewater and stormwater are captured by conveyance pipes and stored in the basin instead of flowing into the Ohio River. When the rain subsides, and system capacity is available, the mixture of wastewater and stormwater will be pumped back into the sewer system. At that point, the water is conveyed to a water quality treatment center, treated and returned to the Ohio River.

When completed, the project will be largely invisible to the public and will enhance not only the water quality of the Ohio River, but also the quality of one of Louisville's premiere parks. Learn more about this specific project at ShawneeParkBasinProject.org.